Sergeant First Class Craig Bitterman joined the West Point Concert Band in 2005. Prior to his tenure at West Point, he served as a musician for 2 years in the 50th Army Band at TRADOC headquarters at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
His percussion performance studies includes a Bachelor of Music from SUNY Buffalo under Jan Williams and Anthony Miranda, and a Master of Music from the Hartt School of Music under Benjamin Toth, Alexander Lepak, and Shane Shanahan.
Before joining the Army, he freelanced in the New England area as staff accompanist for Wesleyan University, Hartford Conservatory, Hartt School modern dance classes, and taught percussion at Holyoke Community College and Community Music School Springfield. Performance highlights during his time in Hartford included performances with Nebojsa Zivkovic, Maelstrom percussion ensemble, June in Buffalo new music festival, Ankara new music festival, Full Force Dance Theatre, and Steel Sunrise Steel Band.
Since joining the band in 2005, there have been many memorable live performances at various New York City venues. Some of these special moments include closing day at the old Yankee Stadium, Google live performance series, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and Fourth of July television broadcasts, and Independence Day celebration at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic.
Outside of performing music, he enjoys taking in the Hudson Valley landscape by hiking and biking local nature trails. Additionally, his recent interest in Yoga led him to Mid-Hudson School of Yoga where he practices Hatha and Raja Yoga.
